The epic confrontation between the Light and the Dark continues (see The Dark is Rising, KR, 1973), and now the battlefield is magic-favored Cornwall where the Greenwitch — a totem figure annually sacrificed to the sea — has stolen the manuscript which Old Ones Merriman Lyon and Will Stanton need to defeat the powers of evil. The supernatural forces that converge for this chapter of the quest are sharply drawn and breathtakingly impressive — particularly the whining petulant Greenwitch who has no understanding of the importance of his stolen "secret" but calls armies of ghostly Norsemen from the sea to protect his prized possession. And the emissary of the dark, who lives in a gypsy caravan and literally paints his spells on canvas, is a fine example of an over-ambitious junior grade devil. It still seems to us that the metaphor of the final "all-time" struggle between "Light" and "Dark" is too grandiose and abstract. Imagine going meekly to bed, as do Barney, Simon and Jane, while the devil and the spirits of the sea wage war outside your cottage window. Imagine evil incarnate, fighting for its very life, having no better agent than the skulking, unreliable landscape painter. Cooper never lets us forget that this is the sort of grand moral struggle that can be fought without ever missing one's evening cup of cocoa. It all would be more exciting if there were just a little real risk involved, but the literally earth-shaking fireworks are nevertheless quite a show.
Pub Date: April 17, 1974
ISBN: 1416949666
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1974
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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